Profane Legacy

The Aftermath

Rey and Tsuki discover much about Dragonlord Yagami while reading through Cunning and Subterfuge. Yagami and his siblings supposedly dwelt in The Astral Plane before coming to the material plane and warred amongst the other Dragonlords for control of Akundin. Yagami claims to have killed his father, Shuulgar, to secure his power. The end of the book seems to contain details on Rahn‘s possession of the book. Rahn seems to have stolen it from Yagami’s lair, in the mountains between Chayundo and Kerdova.
While the party waits for the vanguard to arrive, The Spectre has a dream in which he experiences the last moments of the previous patriarch of House Valeng. His grandaughter Qara had just been born and he looks out across Lexinfa to see Dragonlord Ashekani’s enormous temple. A blue-eyed assassin appears, slices his throat, and the dream ends.
On the second day Chen arrives, with a huge flail snail in tow. Rey begins to hug and speak to the exotic creature. Chen tells the group that he found the closed portal that Rahn had used to bring the goliaths into The Rift. Around the entrance he found the flail snail, apparently having gotten lost in the material plane. Rey offers to send it to live in The Lifeweaver’s Demiplane with Kerok, which Chen agrees to.
The next night The Spectre has another dream, this one beginning in The Ethereal Plane. He sees an enormous sun-like body of light rapidly circling high above him, and below that circle two large jellyfish-like entities, seemingly the progenitors of the flumphs. The Spectre is pulled backwards into The Faewilds, and then into The Elemental Plane of Water. He stands on the shore of a ship-wreck stricken beach and Ajaakor warns him to resist the temptation of the psionicists and their masters. The Spectre is then pulled backwards into mist and wakes up.
The next morning a sand-elf vanguard reaches the group and brings Turiel Dust-Born to the group.
They ask him several questions about Sahri’s latest dream and what The Fire Queen told them. He says that The Vengeant killed Und to try to save his daughter , Aliza, although apparently he failed. Turiel also tells the group that The World Council immediately prior to The Scourge was composed of: Emperios, Naldarai, and Selene the elves, Ferahna and Falkettan the humans, and Suraphinon and Tomyra the sphinxes. When asked, Turiel confirms that the entity now known as The Violet Empress is the only still-living sphinx of Ahlim, Tomyra. Turiel says that Emperios was responsible for The Scourge, and that they’re now known as The Outsider. Additionally, Turiel says that the two pyramids of Minauros were built to foster balance and stability in Ahlim, but that The Obsidian Pyramid, built to maintain order, is missing. The Spectre is aware that that pyramid resides in The Deep Ethereal Plane.
The group travel with Turiel back to find a mage to transport them back to Vikkyn. That night The Spectre speaks with the spirit in his amulet, who he has realised is councillor Naldarai. The Spectre asks what part Naldarai had in The Scourge, and he says that what he and the other councillors did was to prevent a worse disaster. He claims that a powerful entity called The Destroyer, who commands The Anathema was going to destroy Ahlim, but The Outsider stopped him by sacrificing much of Cleon. Naldarai says that another plan was enacted by the other three councillors, but that their plan is only a half-measure, and that The Outsider did what needed to be done.
The group soon find themselves back in Vikkyn and take part in raucous celebrations, with Rey performing their deeds on-stage to a crowd of thousands. Rakshasa performs with Rey, dancing in a cage. Lorabelios The Angel of Hope, having been revived joins in some of the celebrations, and Elena and her bear Rinn join in too. Tsuki spends time with Jinx and Ana, running about the city with a posse of cats. Ghesh collects money for his church from the thankful dark elves.
The next day a meeting is called with the group and the leaders where they discuss the events of the last week. The party tell them that the ogres are heading further into the underdark, likely to join up with Demogorgon. Gevuron Silver-Hand tells the party that the cults of Lady Midnight, Yeenoghu, and Demogorgon have been more active lately on the surface. Gevuron says that his church is willing to renovate and reinforce Rakshasa’s estate to serve as a base for the group. The group consents to this idea.

The Warp Lord's Fall

The party sail down the river, leaving the chaos of the ogre camp behind. Moving towards Rahn, the tremors increase in magnitude, and the party can see huge swirling flashes of colour and light at the ritual site. The group leave their zurkhwood boat behind just as its attacked by Chuuls. The group race up a ramp and are confronted by a group of Rahn’s creations, including an Umber Hulk and a Chuul. The group slay them, with Ghesh pushing a humanoid scoprion creature off the ramp.
Approaching the ritual site, the group can hear and feel The Tarrasque thrashing and roaring beneath them. Rahn is chanting, standing over the pit, while Alberich draws a dagger and a large Displacer Beast skulks, snarling, behind a pillar.
The group attack Rahn, and he unfurls a single set of eye-covered wings and draws Pyra, The Fire Queen’s sword. Rey transforms into a Triceratops and begins to gore her opponents. The Spectre moves around the side of the ritual site and harrasses Rahn and his displacer beast with Psionics. Rahn tells the group that they’re making a mistake stopping the ritual, nonetheless, the brutal and desperate fight goes on. Ghesh and Sahri rush up to fight Rahn and Alberich respectively. Ana and Tsuki unleashes barrages of poisoned bolts, with Tsuki using the last of her Vrock Bile. Rakshasa blasts Rahn with Scorching Ray, but Pyra seems to protect him from the worst of the effects. Nonetheless, this draws his ire, and the blasts of his eye beams. Rakshasa is first knocked out, and then killed by the blasts of Rahn’s many eyes. While deceased, Rakshasa finds herself in a warm, dimly lit room and Graz’zt tells her that now isn’t her time to die.
Rahn cuts down Ghesh with Pyra after the two exhange heated words over The Elemental Planes. Rahn turns Sahri to stone and then lifts Rey above the pit using telekinesis. This writhing, floating triceratops sees the tarrasque angrily moving about below her, apparently trapped. Rahn drops her and she tumbles onto the tarrasque and into the pit. The tarrasque seems to bleed Mithral but Rey quickly propels herself out of the pit to avoid being crushed. Ghesh, revived by Ana, curses Rahn and blasts him unconscious with Shatter, bursting the eyes covering his wings. Ghesh convinces Alberich to flee while the group slays the displacer beast. When Alberich begins to run away the group attack him, slaying him just before he teleports away. They manage to recover a locked, leather-bound tome from his body. It’s embossed with the symbol of Dragonlord Yagami and the Eye of Hadar, which the group finds quite strange. Rey, covered in the mithral blood of the tarrasque allows herself to be licked by Rakshasa, who soon comes to believe she has the strength of the tarrasque herself.
Soon Ghesh summons an elemental to deliver the message to The Fire Queen that they’ve reclaimed her sword. She soon arrives, stepping out of a fiery gate with a retinue of two efreeti and Nas’Ul.
She expresses her hatred of Rahn and chains him up so that he may not use magic or escape. She also thanks the group for returning her sword and gives them two chests full of gold, gems, and also a magical lamp. The group ask about the history of the elemental planes and why The Fire Queen doesn’t swear allegiance to Ajaakor like The Cloud Queen and Storm King does. She tells the group that her father and her kingdom did worship an Annerian known as The Earth Father, but The Vengeant slew them, during The Scourge. She also reveals to the party that there were once nine Annerians, where today there are only six. The group promise to aid her in the future, should her realm come under threat. The Fire Queen high-fives Rey as a parting gift, almost dislocating Rey’s shoulder. Nas’Ul thanks the group once her master has left and unlocks the tome for them. She also says that she will be getting dark-iron plate armour commissioned for the group in the future. With that, the group and the efreeti exchange bows, and The Fire Queen’s retinue returns to the plane of fire.
Rahn soon awakens and is immediately questioned by the group. He says that he was forced to make a bargain with Demogorgon to resist the efforts of Lady Midnight, who he believes will break the world. He also says that Demogorgon is in possession of Ajaakor’s Storm Blade, and that he gave it to a greater demon under his command. He claims that Lady Midnight has three Demonlords under her thrall: Orcus, Zuggtmoy, and a third, unknown demonlord. He claims that Demogorgon is attempting to ally the other demonlords against her, including Gluttony. According to Rahn, The Anathema are becoming increasingly irrelevant, and have no role in Demogorgon’s plans.
Several of The party members have dreams while they wait for the vanguard of The Silvers, The Dark Elves, and The Dust-Born to reach them.
Ghesh has a dream that he’s soaring freely through clouds, about him are storms, and below him are islands littered with shipwrecks. Ghesh soars higher, and realises he is lightning incarnate, flying amidst cloud castles. He sees the crackling, purple form of Ajaakor and is welcomed warmly by them.
Rakshasa has a dream where she is standing in Graz’zt’s palace, where he is sitting upon a throne of incubi and succubi. Beside him is the snake-like, multi-armed, form of Hien The Cruel and the coldly beautiful, finely armoured presence of a fierce angelic warrior. Graz’zt praises Rakshasa and says that her place in his realm is almost ready. He expresses anger at the desertion of his lieutenant, Asmodeus, but says that Rakshasa will take the deserter’s place as his Angel of Lust. Rakshasa takes his six-fingered hand and recieves a kiss.
Sahri has a dream that she is a sand elf, standing near a war-encampment with The Vengeant. Beneath his Mithral Armour he is a tall, muscular, dark-skinned human, with closely cropped white hair and a beard. The earth begins to shake, and the western sky begins to darken to a deep purple, with unnatural lightning crackling in the sky. To the north, the mountain that once stood above The Rift begins to crack and splinter and a huge, stone-skinned, magma-like titan begins to emerge, destroying the mountain as it does. Sahri and The Vengeant race there, with The Vengeant hefting an enormous Battle-axe. The Vengeant says he can’t let this being destroy The Rift, specifically that he must save “her”, and despite the sand elf’s warnings, he teleports to the creature. As The Vengeant brings down the great-axe there is a burst of thunder and a wall of fire and sand surges outwards, consuming the sand elf in pain.

The Final Generals

The black puddings drip down onto Ghesh and Sahri, beginning to degrade their armour and weapons. A third black pudding lands behind the rest of the group but is quickly destroyed by Rey and Ana . Sahri discovers that slashing at the black puddings only splits them up, in fact rendering them more dangerous. Nonetheless the group manage to destroy them. They see that gelatinous cubes are lingering in the hallways leading out of the chamber and quickly destroy them.
The group choose the left corridor and soon encounter a gibbering mouther, which paralyzes Rey with fear and unlocks a dormant desire in Rakshasa to witness other people consuming. Sahri slays the bulbous, grasping beast and the group continues on. They arrive at a small entrance hall to the knave of Eldor’s temple. The doors are slightly ajar and they can hear voices and movement beyond them. They find two petrfied warriors, one is a despondant angel, the other is a fierce warrior with their sword hand and weapon missing. The group realise the angel is Lorabelios, a missing angel of Eldemar, after The Spectre touches them and hears them speak into is mind. Ghesh recognises the other figure as Anja, the last known wielder of Ajaakor’s Storm Blade and the one through whose eyes he saw Lorabelios being petrified by Rahn.
Bursting through the doors the group is immediately confronted by the sight of an enormous gibbering mouther sporting six trunk-like legs, six enormous grasping arms, and three huge gaping mouths, filled with the teeth of dozens of ogres and several giants. The Spectre and Rey are both driven partially mad by the creature, who seems to be composed of the bodies of Orianna and her cultists.
Rey comes to believe that she has the strength of a giant.
Rey wastes no time, polymorphing herself into a brontasaurus to contend with the beast. Ghesh, Ana, and Rakshasa manage to injure the beast somewhat before being picked up and devoured. Sahri runs to the creatures side and cuts huge hunks of flesh from it, including one of its hands. Unfortunately the detached flesh twitches, grows limbs, and also begins to attack the group. As the beast is finally slain by Rey’s Shatter spell, the three swallowed adventurers are thrown up and Sahri is killed viciously by one of the maw creatures. Rey restores Sahri to life with a Revivify scroll, bu not before Sahri has a vision of The Vengeant. The Vengeant grasps her hand in a mailed, hotly glowing, fist and tells her that her fight is not yet won. The adventurers quickly dispatch the remaining maw creatures and decide to rest in the back of the temple. Rey and Ghesh find books discussing the ritual Orianna performed, what Rahn intends, and some information about The Rift and The Elemental Planes. They discover that Rahn has made some sort of pact with Demogorgon and has allied with him out of necessity. Ghesh uses his scrying crystal to find Rahn. He sees Rahn on a clifftop speaking to a two-headed Frost Giant. Rahn is cursing Orianna and telling Vaprak to watch for a group of adventurers. Rahn says he must go ahead with his ritual and that if he fails he must swear fealty to Demogorgon. Rahn then teleports to a ritual site beneath some mountains and begins to engrave sigils around an enormous pit. He turns and sees the invisible sensor of Ghesh watching him, the enormous eye on his chest opens, and Ghesh’s scrying vision ends.
Rey has a dream where she’s a fleshless armoured warrior striding through the night streets of Meridom, Rzeka. At her side is Evangeliza and a young masked man. The group break into the catacombs of Meridar’s church, slay two paladin guards and approach a gilded door. The masked man and Evangeliza remove an enchantment upon the door and the armoured figure opens it. It’s the tomb of General Istorath, who would become the first Angel of Purity. The armoured figure removes their skull, vertebrae, and pelvis, mocks the dead angel and the dream ends.
While this is happening, Tsuki finds a lost black cat with bright green eyes. Around its neck it’s wearing a Stone of Luck and it gives Tsuki a silver key engraved with her name.
Sahri has a dream where she is spoken to by The Vengeant. She is told she must speak to The Thorn King in Berapi, Akundin, and that he doesn’t have much time left in this world. Sahri sees a vision of The Thorn King, a large, once war-like, elderly man in furs, sitting upon a throne. He is sleeping and looks to be at least one hundred years old, at his sides sit both of the large Nemorian Tigers.
The group race to The Darklake, find a zurkhwood vessel and sail their way down to The Lower Dark. The party see hordes of ogres moving north-west, many of them sailing out onto an enormous underground sea that disappears into the distance. The party pass beneath the clifface Vaprak is camped on and decide to moor their vessel and sneak up to the camp. The group move up a rough path carved into the clifface and see that a bonfire is burnng amidst the tents atop the cliff. Partway up the earth begins to shake and the group realise there’s a group of ogres, a troll, and a giant above them. The group surprise attack them, slaying them all quickly, but not before the giant turns a swollen, glowing eye on Tsuki.
The group soon reach the top, make their way around the outskirts of the ogre encampment, and soon see Vaprak The Everlasting surrounded by three armoured Trolls. The group attempt to sneak up on Vaprak but his keen senses (and two heads) ruin their ambush. A bitter fight ensues with several members of the party being revived only to fall again to Vaprak’s twin axes. Rakshasa manages to burn a troll alive, while Tsuki pierces the heart of another with her rapier. The Spectre and Sahri both attack the final troll and Sahri slays it while its back is turned. Angered, Vaprak throws The Spectre off the clifface, only to have The Spectre fly back up using psionics. The Spectre throws an insult at Vaprak and as Vaprak turns, The Spectre pins both his heads together, felling the third and final general.
The ogre camp mobilises, with soldiers racing to see what’s happened to their general and whos responsible.
The group flee and Rey utilises her hallucinogenic mushrooms once again to throw off pursuit. The enormous area of plant growth covers a lot of the ogres camp, and soon, the entire clifftop is thrown into chaos. As the group race down the cliff path, rocks and even some airborne ogres fall past them. Fires are burning above and the sounds of combat continue as the group each the river.

The Desecrated City

The group find a cave to rest for the night, with Sahri keeping watch. Unfortunately the group are snuck up upon by five floating, tentacled, beaked, bulbous creatures called Grells. They lash out at the group with poisoned barbs, striking several party members. Sahri lashes out at them with her axe, while Rakshasa blasts them with Scorching Ray. Rey uses Dissonant Whispers to cause one to flee, but one of its tentacles gets caught in a gap in the rocky ceiling and it gets stuck. The group finish them all off, with Tsuki collecting some of their venom for later use.
The group rest for the night, with The Spectre has a dream where he enters The Mithral Pyramid of Minauros, seeing through the eyes of the elf who inhabits his amulet. Walking through the symmetrical hallways to the apex of the pyramid. On the way there, he sees a sombre elf, who he knows is Councillor Empirios, sitting with their head in their hands. He continues to the council chambers, but several seats are empty. He greets the sphinx Suraphinon and Councillor Ferahna, and says that, while Empirios will join them soon, the other three Councillors will not be joining them.
Tsuki has a familiar dream, seeing The Outsider standing before them. Tsuki and The Outsider are both wearing masks and they say: “We are all puppets, suspended on strings that gleam like gold. The Puppetmaster is most fearful, even Meridar fears his touch. I am not Free, but you can be.”. The Outsider removes Tsuki’s mask, begins to take their own off, and then Tsuki awakes.
Rakshasa has a dream that she’s walking through Undillivek in its heyday, moving past strangely dressed dark elves as she goes. Graz’zt tells her that a servant of his, Asmodeus, has begun to displease please him, and that he’s looking for a displacement. She moves down into the sewers, muttering a passcode in Abyssal to reveal a shrine to Graz’zt. Sitting on an altar is a finely made longsword, a blade known as The Red Spider’s Fang. She’s told to claim this sword to honour Graz’zt.
The group continue to Undillivek, quickly crossing the remainder of The Darklake when Rey uses her Polymorphed Killer Whale form. On the way, they see a group of ogres sailing west, using the huge cap of a mushroom as a vessel.
The group sneak into the sewers, seeing thousands of ogres entering the city and hundreds leaving, moving towards The Lower Dark. Camping in the sewers underneath Undillivek, Rakshasa sneaks off to find Fang. When she reaches the secret shrine she notices a dark elvish man is already there. She seduces the surprised man, and realises he was sent here on the same mission as her. Although it seems that neither of them expected competition. She draws the blade and stabs the man through the throat, hearing Graz’zt’s laughter as the blade is soaked in the man’s blood. Reading his journal, she finds out that he gave an ogre a magic whispering sword to get smuggled into the city.Ana scouts out the city and finds out that Orianna apparently intends to go ahead with The Rebirth, seemingly going against Rahn‘s wishes to do so. She is gathering her followers to Eldor’s old temple in the city.
The next day, the group move to the surface and find the partially ruined temple to Eldor. the group can hear distant voices from inside and other strange sounds. They hear a body slam against the barred front doors, and then silence. They use a rope to pull themselves up trough a shattered window, seeing an injured ogre clutching a sword, lying against the door. Across the floor is blood spatters and traces of glistening, black, acidic, ooze. The group approaches the ogre, who watches them peacefully. The Spectre takes the sword, soon realising it is a sentient blade that is loyal to its owner, the ogre Grolingar. Tsuki finds out the sword is named Kalagiano and Grolingar tells the group that Orianna completed her ritual at the back of the temple but that the word told him to flee, which is how he escaped. The Spectre returns Grolingar’s sword and tells him he has a place on Ajaakor’s Hangman in the surface world.
The group move through the temple, seeing that the floor is covered in small puddles of black ooze and that most surfaces are covered in mildly acidic slime. The group come across a large, carved, statue of Rahn with an inscription that reads: “Warlord Ran’Zoz’Ix, who leads us unto greatness”. Ghesh and Sahri begin to destroy the statue and Ana curses as black ooze creatures begin to drip down from the ceiling onto the characters.

The Darklake

Spending the night in the secret chamber, Ana reveals that the blade she retrieved is her families ancestral longsword: The Moonblade of House Gemflower. Ana gives Tsuki a magical heavy crossbow and promises to help her refine her technique in the future. Rakshasa prays to Graz’zt in her own way, while Rey reads about the history of Salisa, specifically: the war between Vecna and Kas. The group hear Ogres moving about outside frantically, apparently fleeing before the oncoming military assault.

Ghesh has a dream where he is moving angrily through The Underdark with an angelic warrior beside them. The pair are fighting an assailant who is striking them with a fiery blade and powerful magic. Ghesh’s angelic companion, defeated, drops their weapon, resigned to their fate as they are turned to stone. Ghesh strikes angrily with a crackling axe with a head that glows with electricity, but their attacks are parried by the wielder of the fiery blade. Ghesh begins to turn to stone and the dream ends as the pommel of the blade is smashed into his face.
The group continue the next morning, moving through the now mostly abandoned fortress. The group see thousands of ogres fleeing the city, moving towards Undillivek. The party travel north, finding blue divination crystals underneath an overhang when they stop to rest.
The continue to the waterfalls that will take them to the lower level of The Underdark. The Spectre spots a familiar human looking out over the waterfall, circling him slowly are three Flumphs. The human introduces themselves as Chen, Who Sees, and says he is in The Underdark to foil the plans of those who would do harm. He says he stopped cultists of The Red Spider enacting a dark ritual on a Nemorian spider, which The Spectre recalls as what he saw during his dream. Chen says that Rahn is an enemy of The White Swan, his master, who he says lives in Lassiades, Rzeka. The flumphs seem to like the group and let themselves be petted. They display particular interest in The Spectre and Tsuki, and say that their mother is big, bright, and beautiful, and that they love her. Chen tells the group that although Rahn is gifted with Arcana magic, he rejected the path of the psionicist. The two groups part ways, but two of the three flumphs, Xel and Uri, decide to stay with the group.
The party descend the falls, but upon reaching the bottom are struck by strange living stalagtites, who are soon killed by the group. After the rest Ana says the group will have to row across The Darklake in her Foldable Boat. Rakshasa complains about having to row, so Ana puts her immediately on rowing duty. Rey decides to try out her Polymorph spell, shifting into a giant shark to pull the boat along. The Spectre decides to steer the boat, using his experience as a pirate.
The boat is soon attacked by large manta-like Cloakers, that let out a terrifying moaning sound as they approach. One envelopes The Spectre and is soon stuck to him by Ana’s crossbow bolts as it dies. The other cloaker envelopes Ghesh but is soon killed and pushed into the lake. After the fight The Spectre tells Ana off for her reckless shooting, and Ana apologizes.
Continuing on, the boat hits some rocks beneath the surface, throwing Tsuki, Ana, Sahri, and Rakshasa overboard. Soon, large, pincered insects known as Chuul arrive and attack the group. They poison Ghesh and Rakshasa and one of them drags Rakshasa underwater as it dies. Tsuki dives to down to rescue her, while Sahri walks across the surface of the water using her Ring of Water-walking.

The Stone-Skinned General

Rakshasa bonds with Sahri‘s old greataxe as her pact-weapon. The group then sneak into the fortress, moving upwards in search of Norixius. The group sneak past patrols, quickly making their way to The Throne Room. Ghesh sees tapestries hung up on the walls depicting goliaths being led from The Elemental Plane of Earth by Rahn. The goliaths are subsequently warped into Ogres and put under the command of stone giants.
The group soon find the entrance to The Throne Room being guarded by Ogres. Rakshasa and Ghesh distract the guards and draw some of their number away from the group. The rest of the group move up and attack the weakened remainder. Rey scatters some of her harvested tinmask into the long corridor behind the group and casts Plant Growth to entangle and disorient any reinforcements. Sahri and The Spectre move up to engage the defenders, with Sahri falling unconscious after a vicious assault Rakshasa sneaks up behind the defenders and engages their mage. The pair exchange literal fire until Rakshasa burns them alive using Hellish Rebuke, pointing and laughing as she does so.
The group hear the reinforcements running through the corridor full of hallucinogenic mushrooms. Most become confused and start attacking each other or wandering back the wrong way. The few that make it through are quickly killed. Ana gives Tsuki a thumbs-up when Tsuki makes some good shots with her crossbow.
The group break down the door to the throne room and immediately have two sets of giant-sized chairs thrown at them. In the room are two stone giants, one of which is partially armoured. Ana identifies the larger, incompletely armoured giant as Norixius Stone-Skin, the first general. A wave of magic washes over the group from Norixius charming some of the group. Sahri slashes the other stone giant’s legs to tatters with her Mazewalker’s Axe before being picked up by Norixius and used as a projectile. Sahri bowls Rakshasa over and is herself knocked unconscious again. Norixius says that The Rebirth is inevitable now and that the group’s efforts won’t stop that. Norixius throws Rashasa at The Spectre now, while the severly injure other stone giant almost succeeds in crushing Ana. Ana runs to the backwall of the throne room, smears some of her blood on it, which begins to open, revealing a secret chamber. Ghesh is petrified by Norixius as he tries to heal Sahri.
Rakshasa uses Eldritch blast to crater Norixius’s ribcage, and he slumps against the wall beside the statue of Ghesh. Rey asks him questions about the other generals but he’s uncooperative. Ana retrieves a finely made Longsword from the room, and after whispering something to Norixius she stabs him in the throat. She then hacks off his head and rolls it to Rey. The group identify what was on the war-table the giants were standing around before sequestering themselves in the back-room. Ana manages to use Lesser Restoration to return Ghesh to his true form. The group rest for the night in that room, hearing the panicked movements of the Ogres around them.

The Underdark

Rakshasa and The Spectre go to buy some magic items, picking up some improved armour and a Belt of Health from a woman named Lia Holimion. Ana asks Tsuki about any poison she’s carrying, being an assassin. Tsuki realises that her poison is Vrock Bile, a rare and valuable poison she took from Midraba.
The group set out to The Earth Sea, passing growths of both small and towering mushrooms. The group camp besides The Blue Cliffs, with Ana catching and cooking a Cave Fisher with Rakshasa’s limes. Tsuki takes this time to compare her and Ana’s cloaks of Elvenkind which differ dramatically in design and style. Tsuki also tells Ana of the group’s adventures so far, which she seems to appreciate. Rey uses the hollowed-out cave fisher shell as a sleeping bag, earning her the name “Pillbug”. Her and Rakshasa enact a performance, with Rey as the monster and Rakshasa as the damsel in distress.
The group set off the next day for The Underdark, moving down the mushroom-covered Blue Cliffs underneath a waterfall. Setting off for The Capital City, where they expect to find Norixius Stone-Skin, the group soon encounter a patrol of ogres. Catching them by surprise, Tsuki and Ana riddle them with crossbow bolts while Rakshasa consumes them with Hunger of Hadar. The group quickly dispatch of most of the patrol, with Ghesh partially disintegrating their leader with his Javelin of Lightning. They interrogate one captive, who says that their Generals, who include Norixius, are planning something called “The Rebirth”. The Spectre and Rey deduce that their plan involves summoning The Demonlord of Gluttony, possibly utilizing the power of the legendary Tarrasque. The captive also mentions their Warlord, who the group guess is Rahn. The party continue on, finding a cave to rest in. At the back of the cave Sahri, The Spectre, and Ghesh find a cluster of glowing purple crystals, guarded by a single Crawling Claw wearing a Ring of Water Walking. The purple crystals come in various sizes and seem to hold necromantic energy.
Continuing on, the group encounter a cluster of Tinmask mushrooms, apparently growing out of some Mithral. Before Ana can intervene Rey tries to harvest some, triggering a cloud of spores to erupt. Rey freaks out and stabs Tsuki. Tsuki freaks out and knifes Rey. Soon things calm down and Ana safely harvests some. Seeing the Mithral, Ghesh and Rakshasa manage to collect some of that too.
The group continue to the crimson column which The Capital City was built beside, hoping to gain access to the fortress built into it. The group find a group of armed, disciplined sentries who they attack. Tsuki and Ghesh are knocked unconscious before the rest of the guards are defeated. The group hide the bodies and take a short rest before ascending a staircase into the fortress.

The Rift

The party return to Hasamidat, splitting off their own separate ways. Ghesh looks into The Cloud Queen’s court, discovering that she has ruled The Elemental Plane of Air since the departure of The Dragons. Rakshasa and Sahri go shopping, Rakshasa finding golden tips for her horns and Sahri purchasing bargain Plate Armour in exchange for a promise. Rakshasa and Reverence enjoy an afternoon picnic and Rakshasa tells Reverence she loves her, Reverence does not respond in kind, however.Rey researches The Demonlords, discovering several more missing Nemorians including: The Male Aspect of The Hyena, The Female Aspect of The Slug, and others. She also tries to read a copy of “The Day I Slew Death”, but when that doesn’t work she starts dancing with it. An Eldritch Knight tells her: “Stop that. That’s weird, don’t do that.” and takes the book from her. Following this she visits an old friend named Sofia who tells her that a Sand Elf Paladin named Serena Gold-Sand visited her and then proceeded to Hokuhn.The Spectre goes to research psionics and feels that he’s being followed both to and from The Library. He finds that Northern Cleon utilised Psionics to perform experiments and repel The Dragonlords when they invaded after The Scourge. Psionics also only developed after The Scourge, with no mention of it before then. The Great Psionic Empire was believed to have created many Aberrations, which led to their downfall, when other groups fought them because of it. As he leaves he sees that a large, unhygenic man is following him, when he confronts the man he is attacked. The man attempts to strangle him and although The Spectre escapes he realises that this is the same creature from the tunnel, a Revenant sworn vengeance on him.
Ghesh is directed to a fellow Spellscale named Aoth, who says the group should proceed to The Rift where they will receive information about their quest.
The party assembles, and begins the long walk to Hokuhn, and then, The Rift. The Spectre has a dream where he sees two young twins, a boy and a girl, playing in the ruins of a dragon’s tower in Bhanet, Salisa. He sees that both twins have heterochromia and hears the voice of his amulet say: “Behold, our saviour and our destroyer”. On the way Ghesh relives a dream where he finds a long-haired woman, crawled up on a beach. This time he notices she’s wearing a platinum dragon scale around her neck, and that this is a beach in Rzeka. Rey later tells him that the only platinum dragon she’s heard of was Hiromi, the deceased mother of The Dragonlords who now reign in Akundin.
Rakshasa dreams of a large, dark chamber filled with slithering snakes and petrified statues of humanoids. A voice, who she finds out is a legendary Demon called Hien The cruel, tells her that Graz’zt may find a place for her in his court, but that she shouldn’t encroach on Hien’s domain.
The Spectre has another dream where he speaks at length with the Ghost-Elf spirit who dwells in his amulet. The spirit tells him he serves a sphinx named Suraphinon, who lived on in The Ethereal Plane after The Scourge. The Elf tells him that he must serve as his ally, and swear new loyalty.
The group arrive at Hokuhn, which is filled with Drow Refugees, and Tsuki finds some cats to play with. Rey and Rakshasa party at a raunchy joint called “The Enthusiastic Elf” while Sahri finds the highest point in the city. She climbs to the top of what was one a dragon’s palace and look over the city. She realises the above-ground topography of The Rift matches the mountain she saw in her dream, though the mountain is mostly toppled now. Ghesh finds out that the Topaz Nas’Ul gave him is a magic Elemental Gem.
The group move underground, passing groups of soldiers and refugees. They see that luminescent fungus grows across many surfaces, including the ceiling of the cavern, giving the impression of a starry sky. In front of the city of Vikkyn they see a large, imperious statue depicting Vikkyn Amakiir, a famous hero of the past. The group are brought to a central palace where they meet with four important figures. The Dark Elvish King, Gevuron Silver-Hand, the leader of Eldor’s Church, Turiel Dust-Born, an immortal sand elf clan leader, and the newly discovered Angel of Peace, Elena ( and her blackbear companion, Rinn). They tell the group that they have been given a quest: The assassination of the leaders of The Ogres: Norixius The Stone-Skinned, Orianna The Pious, and Vapraak The Everlasting. This will take place during a military endeavour launched jointly by The Silvers, The Dust-Born, and The Drow, which should serve to distract and weaken The Ogres.
Rakshasa makes a friend in Turiel, she asks him what it’s like going to the beach, having a body made of sand. He responds with : “I AM the beach”. Sahri and Rey ask about how long he’s lived with a body composed of sand, stone, and metal. He says that he’s had this body since The Scourge and seems sad about the transformation, if not the end result.
Turiel tells Ghesh that The Fire Queen greatly desires her sword back, but that the safety of The Rift is more important.
The group is finally introduced to Anastrianna (Ana) Amakiir, the princess of The Rift. She seems to be fond of crossbows, particularly her heavy crossbow ‘Piercer’. When Ana tells the group why she wishes to go on this quest, she offers her somewhat tragic backstory, and says she hates The Ogres for destroying her civilisation and desires to reclaim an heirloom. Rakshasa divulges her tragic backstory, involving both of her parents choking to death while eating ham sandwiches, saying:
“My parents were killed by processed meat!”
To which Ana responds: “My people ARE processed meat!”
The pair share a sad high-five, becoming bonded by tragedy.

The Return

Sahri, having a crisis of faith, rejects Satief’s goals, swearing herself to The Vengeant instead. Rakshasa, after planting Daemon’s Kiss, hears from Graz’zt. He asks if she wishes to see when he was born.
She sees from the perspective of a large snake, being led on by his friends to a circle of robed figures. He’s fed flowers and eventually a vial of biter potion. He begins to grow lethargic, seeing darkness all about him, and feels an intelligent, ambitious presence pressing in on his mind. He awakens in a new body, and laughs in the now familiar voice of Graz’zt.Tsuki spends time with Nemon, befriending him. Kerok tells the group about Rahn, saying he is an immortal human mage who worships one of The Demonlords. He says that his younger twin sisters: Kodesha and Jayinya, abandoned them and moved to Akundin and are now advisors to Dragonlord Ashekani. He also says that he will gladly take any vulnerable creatures into his realm to protect them, after Rey asks him. Ghesh sends a message to Nas’Ul The Fire Elemental via Sending about Rahn, she tells him to go to Hasamidat for instructions. Tolun agrees with The Spectre when he suggests that he would make a good addition to Ajaakor’s Hangman. Rakshasa, Ghesh, and Rey decide to spend a day in Ephundali. The group see Gerald the griffin again and play with him, he seems to be growing more mature. Rey is reunited with Vishkanya and, working with her assistant Varis, the three of them work on producing copies of The Lifeweaver’s Manifesto for Posterity. Rakshasa finds Yasheira in The Wailing Wolf and finds that Asir spoke of the group, before travelling north. She also finds out that Roscoe and Merla have begun travelling to Hasamidat. Rakshasa spends the night partying, while Ghesh keeps her out of trouble. Rey spends the night working on transcribing The Lifeweaver’s Manifesto with Vishkanya, and Varis.
The next day, the group meet up in Hasamidat, after being bid farewell by Kerok and being teleported. Ghesh goes to the cities’ Storm Church to share information with the High Priest there, Melech Stormborn. He tells him that a quest awaits him and the group in The Rift and that they will be escorted there.
Rey speaks to Asymptote and convinces him to go to Ephundali to help create some magic items for her. Priyanka goes to Asymptote to ask about giving Nemon his human appearence back, so he can re-integrate into society. The transformation is complete and Nemon thanks Tsuki for her help and says he hopes he sees her again. Sahri and The Spectre retrieve the amulet of Hadar from Arizima Steelgaze, and she says that the harmless spirit inside seems interested in The Spectre.
The group see that a meteor will soon strike Ahlim, south of Hasamidat, and rush to collect it. They find a small polished clump of Mithral in the crater, and after fending off other scavengers, they enjoy their valuable find.

Written by the late Prianyi

The Archetypal Animals, often referred to as ‘Nemorians’ are large fae creatures imbued with the essence and vitality of The Faewilds. They are albino, larger than their mundane cousins (perhaps children?) and are found in both the Mortal Plane and The Faewilds. Silvermane’s White Lions and The Eagles of Hasamidat being well-known examples of the former. Most Nemorians dwell in Syldar’s Realm in their pairs, male and female. However, after much research into the subject I have discovered that not all the pairs are complete. For example, The Male Snake Aspect and the Female aspect of The Bat are both absent, with no explanation given in the popular histories or by The Emerald Enclave.
The Illicit flowering plant, commonly referred to as ‘Daemon’s Kiss’ is at the centre of this mystery. The flower is known to have mind-altering properties and is poisonous in all but the smallest doses. The places it grows are few and far between and The Emerald Enclave eagerly destroys these colonies. I have concluded that, after some research, that this common name is disturbingly reminiscent of what this plant was used for.
The Demonlords only began to appear after The Scourge and in the chaotic and foggy years following this disaster I believe that this plant was central to their appearance. To clarify, I believe that Anathematic cults harvested this plant for usage in dark rituals. In sufficient quantities, and prepared correctly, I posit that Demon’s Kiss could permit the possession of the usually unassailable Archetypal Animals by Fiendish Essence. By combining the inherent magical properties and everlasting Health of The Nemorians with the dark intelligence of Anathematic Spirits a being described as a ‘Demonlord’ could be engineered.
In fact, my creation of the chimera was an attempt to counter these Demons. By combining the Life Essence of The Nemorians and other creatures with the skills and minds of humanoids I believe I can reverse the damage The Anathema have done to Ahlim and its inhabitants, both civilised and natural. Time will tell whether or not my experiments fulfill their purpose, or even thrive…